Falling to Pieces
by PKAquaFlame
Summary: One's still in love while the other one's leaving. A sad Dirk/Jake oneshot.


Disclaimer: I own nothing.

This came from a tumblr request (concerning language barriers) and the recent Homestuck updates concerning DirkJake drama. I think Dirk sees this coming, and I think he'd see how this whole thing with Jake is affecting everyone else. He's a Heart player, after all.

And I was listening to The Script's Breakeven while I was listening to this. The entirety of the Once Musical soundtrack (particularly _Sleeping_ and _The Hill_) is also a good listen.

On with the fic!

* * *

There were many things that Dirk Strider could be called; awesome, epic, renaissance ninja…he was actually a lot of things in his life. But there were also a lot of things he wasn't, stupid being one of them. Especially when it came to things like this. He was a Heart Player, after all; if he didn't have _some_ idea as to how his closest friends tick, then he wasn't much of a Heart Player.

It's Jake. Lately he had been distancing himself; before they'd gallivant and venture into dangerous caves and such all the time. Now that happens rarely (like once a week now), and when they would venture into ruins, it wouldn't be as fun; Jake wouldn't chatter animatedly like he did when they first entered, and Dirk would be left making small talk.

Their relationship was deteriorating. There was no denying that, and it hurt. When he first talked to Jake - in person - he was so happy. He would have died at that moment and he would have felt like he had fulfilled everything that he never knew he wanted.

And he wasn't the only one who saw it. It was clear that Roxy had tried to approach the subject once or twice, but she always ended up not bringing it up. She probably didn't have the heart to really talk to him about it. Because she knew how much he loved Jake.

Because he did. God, he loved him so much. But as much as it pained him to admit it, he had to let Jake go. Because he wasn't the only one. He knew that Jane liked Jake as well; she was about as easy to read as an open book. And when Roxy told him about Jane completely flipping out on Jake and absconding, he knew that this could turn destructive if left to simmer and boil. Breaking up with Jake now was clearly for the best.

Which is why the two were on a hill overlooking LOMAX, sitting side by side. Jake appeared nervous, and Dirk knew why. He swallowed; damn, he should not be getting nervous! He was the coolkid of the group, for chrissakes! But then the thought of breaking up with Jake…the person he was the closest to in his whole life before entering The Medium…

No, he had to do this.

But why did it have to be so hard?!

_"(Jake, I love you.)"_

"Hmm?" Jake turned towards Dirk, a questioning look on his face. "What does that mean?"

The older blonde blinked. Without meaning to, he had slipped into his native tongue.

(Seeing as he and Roxy were from the futuristic version of Jane and Jake's Earth, it would only be natural that he would speak a language that Jane and Jake didn't; their language had faded into history when the world got flooded and humankind went extinct. As a result, once everything in started in Derse, Roxy and Dirk had to teach themselves how to actually speak Jake and Jane's language (how ironic is it that the language was called _English_?) so they could communicate better with their friends.)

Dirk swallowed. It was now or never. There was no going back after this moment.

"I said I think we should break up."

Jake blinked slowly at him, as if he didn't understand what he had said at first. Then he started rambling about how he was thinking the same thing but he didn't want to hurt Dirk and how sorry he was.

And Dirk could only watch with a sad smile on his face. This was for the best, after all. But it still hurt. Jake was the best part of this whole game for him; traveling with him, watching him chatter on about nothing in particular…he'd miss that, no doubt.

When Jake hugged Dirk (probably for being such an understanding friend), the older blond hugged back tightly; the tightest hug that Jake got from him. And it wasn't because he wanted things to be like when they first became boyfriends (which he does), nor was it because he wished Jane wasn't in the metaphorical picture (which he didn't; he didn't blame Jane for loving Jake at all).

It was because maybe if he hugged Jake tightly enough, then he wouldn't be able to see the tears that were threatening to fall (if they hadn't already).

He didn't want Jake to worry about his heart breaking, after all.

* * *

The future language thing slowly became a headcanon for me; since Roxy and Dirk are from a post-apocalyptic world in which they're the only humans, it'd only make sense that they'd speak a different language before they met Jane and Jake. And that they had to teach themselves English through their chats and other makeshift sources (internet, movies, whatever).

Please review! :D


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